REORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD
President Palmer opened nominations for Board President. She nominated Director Quigley to be Board President for FY 2016-17. The motion was seconded by Director Stevens.

There were no other nominations and nominations were closed. The Board voted on Director Palmer's motion and elected Director Quigley to be Board President by a voice vote of 7-0.

President Quigley thanked the Board for its support. He then opened nominations for Vice President, and nominated Director Greci. The motion was seconded by Director Stevens.

President Quigley asked if there were any other nominations, and Director Figuers nominated Director Ramirez Holmes.

President Quigley asked for a show of hands in support of the nomination for Director Greci as Vice President. Four hands were raised by Directors Greci, Palmer, Quigley and Stevens. One hand was raised in support of the nomination for Director Ramirez Holmes as Vice President by Director Figuers. Director Ramirez Holmes abstained and objected saying that in the past the Board took turns in the role of vice chair, but that does not appear to be the case this year.

Regarding board committees, President Quigley stated that he would like to hear from each board member separately as to which committee they would like to serve or stay on. Committee assignments will be finalized at the next regular board meeting.

In response to Director Ramirez Holmes' question about why the agency decided to double its participation in the Sites Reservoir from 10,000 to 20,000AF since its discussion at the last meeting, Ms. Duerig responded that reliance on the BBID supply and the declining reliability of the Delta conveyance has been becoming more and more challenging over the last several years. As development begins to pick up, especially in the Mountain House area, there will be less surplus water available from BBID. After reviewing the WSE and discussions with the board and retailers, staff decided it makes sense to consider how to make up for the anticipated shortfall of 18,100 AF.

Director Ramirez Holmes moved to approve Item 9(c) and Director Stevens seconded the motion. The item was passed by a voice vote of 7-0.

Resolution No. 16-151 Authorized submitting a Proposal to Participate form to the Sites JPA at 20,000 AF. (Item 9c)

Item 10 -

STAFFING UPDATE: MAY EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH RECOGNITION-MONA OLMSTEAD
Ms. Duerig introduced Mona Olmsted, Associate Engineer in the Facilities Engineering section. Mona joined Zone 7 in 2002 and acts as the Patterson Pass Water Treatment Plant facility engineer, assisting in the development and prioritization of PPWTP projects. The board congratulated Ms. Olmsted in absentia for her accomplishments.

Item 11 -

CEQA COMPLIANCE FOR STREAM MAITENANCE-PRIORITY PROJECTS 2016
Ms. Duerig introduced Elke Rank, Associate Water Resources Planner in the Integrated Planning section, who gave a presentation entitled "Stream Maintenance - Priority Projects 2016 - Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration." Ms. Rank's presentation highlighted the annual routine stream maintenance activities for over 37 miles of channels in the valley which are prioritized near or at the end of the wet season. This triggers the CEQA and regulatory permitting processes for compliance. Ten priority projects were originally identified. This number was reduced to nine, based on RWQCB comments, which include one for de-silting only, one involving bankside outlet repairs, and seven bank repair projects. She explained that all environmental impacts of the projects are either insignificant or can be mitigated to a level of insignificance pursuant to the mitigation measures outlined in the Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.

Having had experience with CEQA projects in the past, Director Greci asked if there is a registered biologist on staff to perform these surveys. Ms. Ranke responded that the agency utilizes a consultant, ESA, for as-needed environmental services. ESA has very qualified biologists who assist Zone 7 with this particular part of CEQA.

In response to Director Ramirez Holmes' questions about other bank repairs not on this list and what constitutes the ranking as a priority, Joe Seto, Principal Engineer, Flood Control, explained that the projects on this list are the top maintenance priorities (Priority 1) resulting after the El Niņo season for this summer. Other damage from last year's storm (Priority 2) will be addressed next summer. Several things are taken into consideration such as the proximity of existing utilities underground, the proximity to residential or commercial vs. an open space such as a park which would be a lower priority. Areas open to the public or that can impact public safety or travel within the roadway are higher priorities. The agency currently has less than 10 additional projects on the books that are lower priority.

Director Ramirez Holmes asked about notice given to surrounding residents when noise is a factor. Mr. Seto explained that before commencement of construction on a particular site, the agency will typically send out letters to the residents that will be potentially impacted as well as to the City to advise them that trucks and construction equipment will be coming in and out of the neighborhood. If they have any questions, they are encouraged to contact Zone 7 in advance.

Director Palmer moved to approve Item 11 and Director Ramirez Holmes seconded the motion. The item was passed by a roll call vote of 7-0.

Directors Ramirez Holmes and McGrail expressed concern, confusion and disappointment over the issue of not receiving notice that an Ad Hoc Committee meeting had been created to discuss the status of the Delta Habitat Conservation & Conveyance Program, the California WaterFix and related efforts. Director Ramirez Holmes stated that transparency and outreach happens before the fact, not after. She would like to see the update on this topic come to a regular public meeting that is televised.

Director McGrail concurred that even though an ad hoc committee was scheduled, the full board has a right to know what is going on and should be advised and given an invitation to attend. This was a roundabout way to do that.

Ms. Duerig clarified that although there are no notice requirements for ad hoc committee meetings and, historically, no notes of those meetings, this presentation is included in the agenda package and is posted on the agency website because the committee wanted to be transparent. The committee should be applauded for their efforts to share the information presented.

Directors Figuers and Ramirez Holmes asked why this issue went before an ad hoc committee as opposed to the Water Resources Committee. Director Palmer responded it was not a groundwater issue per se. Individual directors were occasionally invited to meetings up in Sacramento on their own and were intimately involved with the issue. Once the agency learned that Chuck Gardner of The Hallmark Group, who is the California Department of Water Resources' Program Manager for the DHCCP, would be available to speak on the matter on this day, a meeting was quickly put together to accommodate his schedule. She apologized that the full board was not notified, and agreed that sending an email to everybody could be done in the future. She stated that the committee wanted to make sure that this information was made accessible.

Director Quigley thanked the committee for enlightening the board, stating that in his 12 years as a board member, he has never seen this much detail in a report come out of an ad hoc committee. He respects the decision to set up the ad hoc committee when an urgent need to gather information presents itself. Although sympathetic to Directors McGrail and Ramirez Holmes, he understands that the ad hoc committee is an important tool when things need to happen quickly. The California WaterFix is a big state issue and although the agency is a small player, we all have a keen interest in how it rolls out.

Director Quigley pointed out that the notes from the Finance Committee held on July 14th were included and reflected what was discussed there.

Director Ramirez Holmes renewed her request to look at a public records request policy and notification measures to the Board. She said that she was told that the policy would be discussed at a board retreat and she would like this to stay on everybody's radar.

Director Palmer mentioned that Item 9b in the agenda package includes a staff report on the implementation of a new records information management system which should help the agency serve people better in terms of accessing documents.

President Quigley commended staff for doing a great job on the two-year budget.

Director Palmer reported that she attended a meeting earlier this month in Sacramento with Carol Mahoney regarding the state's directives on groundwater and how the decisions have been localized. She attended another meeting, also in Sacramento, that discussed risk assessment and pricing of the tunnels project. She reported that it was heartening and interesting to see that their risk assessment was that the state's projections on how much the project would cost was very close to what they felt came under the risk factors.

She further reported that CEMEX had notified local residents living near Lake A that an open house to discuss proposed additional mining will be held tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. at Granada High School. CEMEX is proposing going deeper and farther east, south and west with its gravel mining operation in Lake A.

Ms. Duerig stated that Zone 7's 2015 Annual Report accidentally included an inappropriate picture. This will be replaced with a picture that better represents Best Management Practices. The agency will be correcting and redistributing the 2015 Annual Report with the new picture.